Hsbc Holdings PLC Trims Stake in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC cut its Gen Digital stake by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 136,639 shares and leaving it with 895,266 shares valued at about $24.4 million.
• Insider activity was mixed: Director John C. Chrystal bought 3,000 shares, while Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares, and insiders now own 9.30% of the company.
• Gen Digital reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also pays a quarterly dividend that annualizes to $0.50 per share for a 1.9% yield.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its position in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 895,266 shares of the company's stock after selling 136,639 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.15% of Gen Digital worth $24,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Gen Digital by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,310,110 shares of the company's stock worth $1,993,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,313 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Gen Digital by 3.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,558,806 shares of the company's stock valued at $867,565,000 after buying an additional 1,015,755 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Gen Digital by 2.2% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,961,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $651,867,000 after buying an additional 487,393 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,211,000 after buying an additional 3,640,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,336,000 after buying an additional 1,954,712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Gen Digital news, Director John C. Chrystal purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 31,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total value of $2,478,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,832,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at $94,974,900.72. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gen Digital Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ GEN opened at $26.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.33. Gen Digital Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.78 and a 12 month high of $32.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. Gen Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Gen Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.850-2.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GEN. Argus upgraded shares of Gen Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gen Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.29.

Gen Digital Company Profile

Gen Digital NASDAQ: GEN is a global cybersecurity company specializing in consumer- and small-business-focused security, privacy, and identity protection solutions. The company offers a suite of products designed to safeguard devices, networks, and personal information against malware, ransomware, phishing attacks and other digital threats. With a focus on user-friendly interfaces and cross-platform compatibility, Gen Digital develops antivirus software, VPN services, parental controls, password management tools, and comprehensive identity-theft monitoring services.

Gen Digital traces its origins to the consumer software division of Symantec Corporation, which was spun off in late 2019 under the NortonLifeLock name.

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